Monday, November 07, 2011

And that’s why I am now going to introduce my fully-operational intentional walk idea. This is playing off Bill James’ ideas and some thoughts I’ve had on the subject before. Now I have a rule I feel good about it. The rule would be simply this:

• If you are walked on four pitches, you have the right to DECLINE the walk.

That’s the whole rule. I think this is not just fair, it also fits into the larger fabric and history of the game. Walks were created to impress upon the pitcher the importance of pitching the ball in the strike zone — in other words, the importance of giving the hitter a fair opportunity to hit the ball.

Hey, that's kinda nuts. But of course it's more a point of discussion than an actual possibility, so what do you think? Can't say I love the idea, although I wouldn't mind seeing it tried out in, say, spring training.

6
comments:

I got a crazy rule idea too. Extra inning games should only go 3 innings. If the score is still tied up after 3 extra frames, you go into soccer-style penalty kicks mode, but in baseball you have hr derby instead of kicks. Each team selects a slugger, and the hitter is given 3 outs to hit as many dingers as he can. The slugger can pick his own pitcher.

And how about the Rangers make Greene's Hill like Tad's hill in Houston by extending it down to field level and making it in play. They could then grow out the grass on the hill really long and we could watch the hilarity as slow sluggers huff and puff around the bases while the center fielder hikes up the hill to snag the ball.